Nbcnewyork.com: Josh Alper reports of more problems in sports coverage censorship at Newsday, links to a report in the New York Observer by John Koblin about Wallace Matthew's leaving the paper to join Espn New York.

Mr Matthews pulls no punches, as he tells his side of why he left and what he claims was going on regarding sports content reporting under sports editor Hank Winnicki and new editor (current website designer) Debbie Krenek at Charles/James Dolan's newspaper, with several anonymous quotes from current Newsday employees.

NYIFC Comments:Talk about a super-bowl of conflicts/double-standards/censorship.

First, you need a scorecard to identify the players.

1. NBC Newyork is the same NBC that includes sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who with Sam Flood are/were making hockey television decisions. Mr Ebersol, never shy about involving himself in anything NBC-related beyond sports here who's network is a former part owner of Msg according to the New York Times.

2. NBC/Comcast/Flyers owner Ed Snider are attempting a merger, his Flyers were selected last summer out of nowhere to participate in last year's NHL outdoor game which saw a ten percent decline in ratings Sports Business Journal and only placed third in the Philadelphia market.

3. Wallace Matthews, who surfaced every few years to play instant Isles expert and take a few digs at the team, joined Espn New York. What's important to remember about Matthews was he never criticized (or mentioned) his new employer's teams in their paper and now he's complaining he was having his criticism edited/muted and blaming the Dolan's?

Matthews March 6th article on the Isles (during time he felt he was being phased out) included fan comments critical of the team did receive the Newsday/Winnicki/Krenek seal of approval for publication.

4. Former Daily News sports editor Leon Carter, who under his tenure Isles coverage declined dramatically (while false radio ads from his paper claimed his sports department covered all the local teams) was criticized a few years ago by guess who? here.

5. NBC writer, Josh Alper in his bio writes he is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse. This is the same fringe outlet which currently sponsors our former Islander-team sponsored blogger, who on days when he is not ripping Islander management or breaking news about internal team business is at Msg lobbing softballs at the Rangers/Garden management completely muted of any criticism.

You cannot make this stuff up.

Sadly, it does speak to the current level of coverage the New York Islanders receive from this paper and how their national perception is influenced across North America along with a few other items.

When Tsn/Espn do articles they usually link to a report from this paper.

Too bad our fans and team are caught squarely in the middle.

Ownership has one major local paper to market it's team and report on Lighthouse updates across New York. The Islanders upper management have created some of their own New York media perception damage with their short-sighted, Long Island only campaign. This approach neglecting it's fan base across the New York City market, despite outreach and team events scheduled inside the city limits, makes little sense.

What's very unfortunate is none of these articles that concentrated on Msg teams in Newsday mentioned the coverage standards of the New York Islanders. You remember them, the local home team?

A year ago Greg Logan ripped the club early and often for working within league mandated guidelines regarding injuries among countless issues. This year they hired a former intern as it's full-time beatwriter, the paper did report about anonymous quotes critical from a few players, last month which was never reported on Msg teams.

Do you think the negative fan comments approved in Matthews article on the Isles would be permitted and printed about the Garden's teams?

The question from day one was would there be sports coverage double-standards under Cablevision owned Newsday.

The people working at this paper have made it clear that answer is yes.

Friday, this was the paper sending the Ranger beatwriter to ask Gary Bettman about the Lighthouse project and then take the role of political reporter, interviewing TOH officials about the status of the project.

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